Internet Marketing Strategies, Resources, Tips & Advice

I use McAfee security software and so far I've been pretty happy with it. 

McAfee, however, has a tool called 'Site Advisor' which places a green checkmark or red X next to sites listed on the search engines. If you've use McAfee you probably know what I mean. These checks or X's denote whether a site is safe or is a potential security threat to you. 

Today while doing some internet searches I noticed that one site in particular (won't mention names) had a red X next to it.  When I hover over the X the caption said:  

"When we entered our email address on this site we receive 1.0 email(s) a week.  This site is very spammy".

Uh oh, one email a week means you'll be labeled a spammy site?  

I have to ask myself "Is McAfee really examining the emails they get?"  I hope so, because the way you collect email addresses, how you treat your email list and the content of your emails is really what constitutes SPAM. 

In other words, if you send email with out permission, send blatant ads or offer no real value to your reader, I would have to agree that you are spamming. However, if you are sending useful information with permission from subscribers I think, and you may agree, that's a different ball of wax altogether.

Yes, there are sites that will simply post ads to your email after signing up, not what most upstanding online businesses do, but it happens   so I would hope McAfee is going the extra step and actually looking at and evaluating the emails.   And I'm happy to say that after further research this is indeed what they are doing …whew!

If you’re an internet business owner building an email list, here's my advice to you.  Always be up front and honest with your viewers. Let them know precisely what they will be getting when signing up.  Whether you are offering a bonus, an email a week or ten emails a week, let them know exactly what they are getting. 

Also, use an autoresponder that uses the double op-in or confirmed opt-in feature.  I use Aweber and they are just one of the quality autoresponders that uses and recommends double opt-ins.  This is important because in the event of a SPAM accusation, you are legally protected with the 'subscription confirmation request' you received back when your subscriber opted in. 

…and don't forget to place in every email you send an obvious and easy way for subscribers to opt-out.

If McAfee or any other security software labels you a spammer after doing all of this then you're going to have to deal with that on an individual basis, but I'd venture to guess that putting your customer and visitors first and doing the right thing from the get go will be all the protection you need. 

Of course there are always those subscribers that no matter what you do, they scream spam.  It's unfortunate, but with a good autoresponder and customer centric practices, your email marketing will be a lot less risky and your subscribers will be a lot happier.

Your Thoughts?

Tags:   Email MarketingNo Comments